Putnam Accuses DeSantis of ‘Betraying’ Florida

The political committee controlled by Adam Putnam has released it’s hardest hitting attack on Ron DeSantis in the Republican race for governor.

A new television commercial accuses DeSantis of being a “part of the Washington swamp” and betraying Florida. Its the clearest indication that the gloves are off as Putnam seeks to rebound from a steep drop in the polls.

DeSantis campaign spokesman David Vasquez’s official response to the new Putnam ad was simply, “Adam who?”

The ad throws out several hits on DeSantis:

Backing a 23% national sales tax;

Voting to cut social security and raising the retirement age;

Support of raising the national debt limit, as requested by then-President Obama;

His past employment at a law firm that is also a lobbying firm in Washington;

and taking over $1 million in contributions from companies tied to Wall Street.

DeSantis did co-sponsor what’s been called the “Fair Tax” which would raise the national sales tax to 23% but the ad doesn’t mention the proposal would eliminate federal income taxes to offset the sales tax. Putnam contends the national sales tax would be especially unfair to Florida’s economy since it would raise the cost of housing, food and hurt tourism in the state.

On the social security issue, in 2013, 2014, and 2015 DeSantis did vote in favor of a Republican Study Committee budget resolution that would have cut social security benefits and raised the retirement age in incremental steps starting in 2022 until it reached the age of 70. In all three votes, the majority voted against the proposal.

DeSantis previously worked as a civil attorney with the law firm Holland Knight, which also has a lobbying practice – though DeSantis was never a lobbyist. He was also a former federal prosecutor and JAG attorney in the United States Navy.

Putnam has been forced to go on the attack because recent polls show him trailing DeSantis in the Republican primary. DeSantis jumped dramatically in the polls after receiving an endorsement tweet from President Trump. This past Tuesday, Trump joined DeSantis on stage in Tampa to make the endorsement in person.